How to humidify (or rehumidify) your cigar cellar?

Humidifying or re-humidifying a cigar cabinet: All steps, step by step

Depuis quand n’avez-vous pas ré-humidifié votre cave à cigares ? Plus d’un mois ? Alors il est largement temps de vous en occuper. Mistersmoke vous livre tous ses conseils pour retrouver un taux d’humidité optimal ou procéder à la mise en route de votre cave. Pensez ensuite à la ré humidifier régulièrement afin de préserver tout le goût de vos cigares.

Re-moisten your cigar cabinet

Cette opération s’effectue en général 1 fois par mois, et même plus souvent si votre cave à cigares est souvent ouverte, stockée dans une pièce humide ou encore si elle contient un grand nombre de cigares. Vérifiez aussi si l’humidificateur a bien une taille adaptée à votre boîte.

To re-humidify your humidifier, you will need a propylene glycol solution for foam models or distilled water for acrylic crystal models.

Beforehand, you will need a clean cloth (or absorbent paper). Put some distilled water on it and apply it to the inside walls of the cigar cabinet. The wood will absorb the water and take on a light pinkish colour. (Note that the wood used for these boxes is Spanish cedar. It is one of the only wood that does not give any taste to cigars).

Then put a glass of water inside your cellar and close it. Wait 3 days and your box will be ready. If you want a faster method, put the glass of water in the microwave. The water will be absorbed in a single day.

Cigar humidor humidifier

You can now re-humidify your humidifier. This time you will need a bowl or container of the appropriate size. Fill it with distilled water (or Adorini humidifier liquid) and immerse your humidifier in it for 5 minutes. Then shake it a little and quickly dry the sides. You can then put it back in the humidor. Be careful: no drops should escape when you put it back in.

Vous pouvez alors mesurer le taux d’humidité à l’intérieur de votre cave à cigares. Idéalement, pour préserver leurs saveurs, il devrait se situer entre 65 et 75%. Si ce n’est pas le cas, votre hygromètre a besoin d’être calibré.

Calibrating the hygrometer in his cigar cellar

To calibrate a hygrometer, you need a screwdriver, salt, water and a few hours of patience. Place about 10 g of salt in a glass and pour a few drops of distilled water over it. A small amount of water will be more than enough: the salt should start to form a paste. Take an airtight Tupperware-type box and place the glass next to the hygrometer inside. Close the box and wait 8 hours. After this time, your hygrometer should indicate a humidity level of between 65 and 75%.

If this is not the case, turn the adjusting screw on the back of the hygrometer with a screwdriver. Once this has been done, you can put the hygrometer back in your cellar.

For those who would like to avoid this step, a digital hygrometer is the best choice...

Re-humidified humidor, re-humidified humidifier, calibrated hygrometer... everything is ready to store your cigars in the best conditions. By carrying out these operations regularly, you will be able to keep your modules for as long as you want. Operations to be renewed in a few weeks...